Millicent and Malia: Recipe Cards Freebie

Hi Friends! I've been going through my grandmother's beautifully beaten up recipe box for this series titled Millicent and Malia. And I've had a lovely light bulb insight: a woman's recipe collection is also her personal journal, written in code.

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Some of Grandma Millicent's recipes are neatly handwritten on lined cards. Others are scrawled on scraps of paper. There are certain recipes printed on personal stationary and others in unfamiliar cursive… dishes and desserts quickly jotted down from friends. A few recipes are typewritten– with no errors. Even that feels like a marvel to me.

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If you slow down and examine these rectangles of paper… there are clues about a woman's life here– just like you picked up and peeked into her personal journal.

Chicken scratched notes like "Allegedly served at Besty's Brunch"– was that written a moment of humor? Or a passing thought that the recipe-giver was trying to keep a prized recipe to themselves?

Certain names written over and over again– trusted friends who my Grandmother must have had long terms relationships with. Did they meet when their children were young? And continue their friendship as they transitioned from Mothers to Grandmothers? Did they share their pride as they children grew up as well as their grief as husbands passed away?

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Millicent and Family in 1945. The war had just ended. Millicent was thirty-one years old.

Even the types of recipes– so many casseroles, penned in controlled handwriting– and then a shift to slips of paper with words hastily written in pencil entitled "Light Golf Lunch" or "Ladies Luncheon." Is this reflecting the change from being busy mother of three to a empty nest and a renewed focus on female friendships?

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 I'm left with more questions than answers as I unravel the gorgeous mystery of my Grandmother's recipe box. But it's delicious to daydream about Grammy Millicent's life.

To celebrate this magical journey of family and food, Keren Dukes from Free Pretty Things for You has created these free blank recipe cards for me to share with you– they are inspired by Grandma Millicent's recipe box. Keren did a fantastic job capturing it's essence.RC post example 2

Download Here

  RC post example 1

Download Here

Directions: The links will take you to the recipe cards on Flickr. Click Actions then View All Sizes. Select the size you want then click Download.

Note: For some reasons the colors will look different on Flickr but will print out pink and turquoise.

Thank you, Keren Dukes! Linking Up

Malia

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16 Comments

  1. Hello, I am a new follower. I would love it if you would visit my blog and follow me back at Valerie @ My-2-Cents
    Thank you
    Have a blessed week!
    **Woo Hoo I am follower 999. The big one is next. ;-)
    Valerie Stayton
    My-2-Cents

  2. Malia, although I loved the post and totally agree with you about recipes being quite personal…..I was looking forward to a recipe! Laughing here! I just has a friend give me a cookbook that is from 1936 (75 years old now) from Bluehill Maine……it’s so wonderful as I am a New Englander and I am loving reading it.

  3. Returning your visit through the Social hop this weekend.
    Those cards are such a nice tribute to your Grandmother. I wish my relatives had handwritten recipe cards to pass along…but one grandmother rarely cooked and the other had it all in her head.
    Following you back and looking forward to reading more…
    Laura O in AK
    daybydayinourworld.gmail.com

  4. Malia, I’m so taken with that recipe box — the illustrations, the history and all! I loved getting a peek at the recipe cards themselves and of that wonderful photo of your grandma!
    Keren’s style and yours go so beautifully together. The recipe cards are the nicest I’ve ever seen! Thank you!
    Thank you so much for linking up to “A Little Birdie Told Me…”!
    Jenn

  5. Those recipe cards are just beautiful.
    I love that her recipe box is also filled with mysteries. I love the comment about allegedly served as someone’s brunch. It’s almost as if she doesn’t believe it.